OP-ED: The great lesson of history

By ALAN SMASON

Today being International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the day after the final (dead) October 7 hostage was retrieved and identified by Israeli authorities, there is time for reflection.

It was 29,585 days ago that the Soviet Army entered Auschwitz and liberated the sick and dying residents of the Auschwitz complex of concentration and extermination camps. It is that anniversary that forms the basis for this international day of recognition of the Holocaust. 

In Israel and other parts of the Jewish world, another day – Yom Hashoah – is also utilized to draw attention to the horrors of the Holocaust and the 6 million Jewish lives that were lost. More than 1.5 million of that number were children and more than 80 years since the end of World War II, statisticians say the worldwide number of Jews has never returned to its pre-war population figures.

It was 843 days ago that the October 7, 2023 coordinated attack on Israel by Hamas and others brought about the single greatest loss of life in one day since the Holocaust. Today is the first full day that the State of Israel and the worldwide Jewish community can breathe a sigh of relief for those who needed closure or to be restored to their loved ones.

While there are those who may claim, the two dates of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and October 7, 2023 are vastly different – one being a genocide and the other being a series of coordinated terrorist attacks – they both unfortunately claim a large number of dead Jews. 

The common denominator in all these memorials is the callous waste of human life and the demonization or dehumanization of Jews as individuals worthy of the blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, something our nation was founded upon.

Israel was founded on the ashes of the Third Reich and its failed “final solution to the Jewish question.” Every square inch of territory they have achieved in the Middle East was paid with the blood of patriots who first brought independence to the Holy Land in 1948 and 1949.  Later, Israel was challenged by its Arab neighbors in succeeding crises and wars, most notably in 1967 and 1973.

The two intifadas continued to wage political battles by the Palestinian people supported by Hamas and the Al Fatah regime that runs the Palestinian Authority. “The Palesinian people have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” Israeli statesman Abba Eban once frustratingly opined.

While there is no longer a threat to democracy from a united Jew-hating Nazi Germany, there is still plenty of hate to go around, fueled by theocracies like the Islamic Republic of Iran and promoted through a group of prominent proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and others promoting antisemitism and anti-Zionism like Islamic Jihad, Daesh and the Muslim Brotherhood. Other nations like Turkey, Syria and Qatar have proved themselves to be less than friendly towards Israel. 

Currently, 81% of the United Nations – or 157 of its 193 member states – recognize a “State of Palestine,” a non-entity that is still closely aligned with terrorist organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The most recent of these recognitions came from world leaders France, the United Kingdom and Australia, three nations that are reacting to the Israeli response following the October 7 attacks and playing directly into the hands of media manipulators who are attempting to rewrite history.

Holocaust denial has ramped up in recent years as actual Holocaust survivors die, leaving only their oral and video histories behind. In many cases, young people have become increasingly vulnerable to false narratives regarding Palestinians having had a long history in the area and accusing Jews of colonialism. 

This is the stuff of nonsense and especially ridiculous when coming from two of the biggest colonial powers, France and England. 

Israel is the only country that has proven to have the best of intentions towards protecting Jewish people. The Middle East is full of nations with formerly active Jewish communities where the number of Jews is down to near zero. This is not indicative of a colonial intent on the part of the Jewish people and one will find tolerance in abundance in Israel, where Arabs are afforded equal rights and LGBTQ residents are not routinely exterminated for espousing their same-sex attractions.

The great lesson of history is that Jews have been and will continue to be in danger. We know that being silent only gives the antisemitic perpetrators more power and that recognizing the danger is the first step we can take in fighting back. 

Today we honor our dead in memorials but, more importantly, honor our living more by coming together as a united people. The past two years have seen fractionalization within our ranks over the Gaza War. That plays into the hands of our enemies. It is more important than ever to recognize the threat from without and to stand our ground with our Jewish brethren. 

Am Yisrael Chai.

For surely, if we don’t hang together, we will hang separately.